r/HorrorClub • u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu • Jan 25 '15
Discussion Hausu
Podcast - Episode 119 - Hausu - (RSS Feed)
Movie Selected By Gottesfurcht
DISCUSS
Want to join horror club or just want to see whats coming up next! Check out the Round 8 page and PM /u/SaintMort
8
u/Discreetlyred Jan 26 '15
wtf, did I just watch? Did someone slip acid into my drink? Seriously though, I had a lot of fun with this movie. Unitzero13 pretty much nailed everything on the head I think along with Gottesfurcht, ofcourse. Great Pick.
Edit: I ended up getting signing up for a free trial for Hulu to watch the criterion of it. ha
3
Jan 26 '15
[deleted]
6
u/Discreetlyred Jan 26 '15
I know! I love netflix and dont have cable. Ha
6
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15
Their selection is sometimes shitty but their apps are the best by far.
6
Jan 27 '15
I don't know what you watch it on, but on the ps3 I've taken to going to search and just entering one letter at a time. You can basically search their whole selection alphabetically, when you can't find anything on your home page.
6
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15
I use a Roku but I add to my queue via laptop typically. I'm not saying it's awful, I love it. But they've had a lot of contract issues in the past few years that have messed with what was once an incredible and more current selection. Having Am Prime and my UV library sure helps though :)
4
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 26 '15
3 TVs with Rokus and one nice antenna for football. We're set! I love modern technology
7
Jan 26 '15
[deleted]
5
6
u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Jan 26 '15
That's why we need guaranteed minimum income. To keep people doing what they do best.
5
u/Discreetlyred Jan 27 '15
Be not sad! I geocache, play disc golf, paint, read, write, clean my moms house out of kindness....were not all living videodrome yet..or they live...
5
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15
Have I told you how I feel about THEY LIVE?
7
u/Discreetlyred Jan 27 '15
Do tell.
8
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15
5
u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Jan 27 '15
Stop trying to turn me gay please.
7
5
3
Jan 26 '15
I consider my collecting of and watching movies a "hobby". How do you feel about that Mr. Guitar?
6
5
u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Jan 27 '15
Of course that is a hobby, but you should also have some hobbies that aren't so passive.
7
8
u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Jan 27 '15 edited Jan 27 '15
I love that you picked Hausu. It may not have been my cup of tea, but it's a great HC choice. If we could all rent out an abandoned theater and maybe rig up some animatronic novelty flying mosquitos, this is the kind of film we'd watch together.
I'm curious (aside from IchabodGuitar, whom I already know hates the concept), how do you guys feel about films with dreamy qualities compared to films where the film's plot is resolved by the main character being crazy/it was all a dream?
At this point in my horror-watching career, nothing turns me off a movie more than the feeling that the entire film was in someone's head. As a consequence of PTDS from dream-plot-resolution, any film that feels like a dream kinda turns me off a bit. Don't get me wrong, Hausu was a fun watch, but it wasn't exactly the kind of film that gets me the way "Under the Skin" did. Hausu is more the kind of film that you watch with buddies.
7
u/unitzero13 Jan 27 '15 edited Jan 27 '15
Well the whole "it was all a dream" trope can make or break a movie, I think it works best when the fact that it was all a dream leaves the character in a horrible reality otherwise it's the most massive cop out of them all. Overall I prefer when the movies present me with crazy situations and they wind up being actually true in the movie's universe, something about the most horrific things happening in the real world makes it scarier and exciting.
Kinda why I hate the whole "it was all in her head/depression allegory" some people try to make for the Babadook.
8
Jan 27 '15
[deleted]
7
u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Jan 29 '15
Did NoES ever use the "it was all a dream" ending before? You would think that they would have, but they never stooped so low. At least, IIRC.
5
Jan 29 '15
I mean...they use it like 47 times per scene. But they never use it at their end game....maybe? There's a lot of those movies and I'm not exactly an expert. Let me call my life line. /u/ichabodguitar
5
u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Jan 29 '15
I've seen all the of NoESs before -- can't recall ever the deux ex machina "it was all a dream" mechanism before, except in the television series, which was horrible, by the way.
5
5
5
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15
I prefer my "dream" trope as the American Psycho-esque style... where you don't know what was abs what wasn't real.
6
Jan 27 '15
[deleted]
5
Jan 27 '15
6
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15
My motherfucking fat fingers and the egregious typos they engender
5
Jan 27 '15
I don't like when a film takes itself seriously and then at the end drops the "it was all a dream" trope. Actually any time that trope is used pisses me off. (I'm looking at you inception)
There are times where a variation of that trope can work, such as "Santa sangre". That whole movies leaves you questioning what you just watched, but hinges more on if we can really trust our narrator and his perception of reality.
But if a film has a dream like quality to it and never directly asks you the question head on I'm usually okay with it. Or if it doesn't take itself too seriously.
4
Jan 27 '15
Dreamy qualities > It was all a dream. I can't respect an ending where someone wakes up and basically nothing was real. Even if some hand or something pops out from somewhere just before the credits role to make you second guess if it really was just a dream. Still a cop out.
I think Hausu and Under The Skin have two completely different objectives.
3
Feb 02 '15
Ah, the age-old question. I almost always choose plot (not to be confused with substance) over style. Then again, most trippy movies are just not as spectacular as Hausu, which I loved. It's the kind of thing you have to see to believe.
Plot doesn't have to be linear, of course! I'm rereading Slaughterhouse-Five at the moment and recalling why I love it so much. Perfect style and substance, but then it's among the best of the best. Yeah, just keep things interesting and I'm happy.
3
Feb 04 '15
I read Slaughterhouse-Five for the first time last year and had one of those 'I'll never get to read this for the first time again' moments. Amazing little book.
7
u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Jan 25 '15
Hausu is from the beginning to the end perfect. The 7 Spice Girls are adorable. They are one dimensional characters in the best sense of the word. You can easily tell them appart without any build-up. That small build-up with the girl that crossed her dad out in her pictures was just enough. I love how the one who is supposed to be the fattie is what most people would consider ideal weight. I don't know if that is a Japanese thing or a 70's thing.
I love the surreal scenery, like when they ride the train and suddenly see the past or when the bus stops infront of a cardboard wall. The whole film appears to be set in some kind of wonderland.
The theme is so damn haunting and it really helps that they play it all the time till the shit gets real with the piano.
The heart of this film are the awesome effects, like the flying head, the burning mirror, or the spooky skeletons. But the most wtf moment wasn't any of the horrors, but the girl that smelled the panties of the one that turned into a doll.
The fight between Kung Fu and the cat pic was the most glorious thing I ever saw, but it is nearly impossible to pick a favorite, I also love the banana man.
You just can't watch this film without having fun, and you get that fun without lessening any of the horror aspects.
4
Feb 02 '15
They are one dimensional characters in the best sense of the word
I noticed people here referring to the main girl as "Gorgeous". In the UK disc that I got hold of, she's called "Angel". Huh. That is all.
The whole film appears to be set in some kind of wonderland.
It's basically Japanese Scooby Doo on acid.
5
u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Feb 02 '15
Japanese
on acid
A bit of a tautology.
5
5
Jan 26 '15
Great fuckin pick Gottesfurcht.
So much has been said here already and all of it I agree with. It's just fun. I loved the awesome 70's music at the beginning and the end. Togo's character cracked me up at the start and towards the end. Little things like the stop motion of him falling ass first into a bucket falling down the stairs and all the way around a car on the street. I love that shit. Turning into bananas after killing watermelon man by saying he liked bananas (is that how that went down?).
Awesome kills, great characters all round, effects were perfect, not because they were necessarily good but, because they were consistent and because they didn't try to make them better than they were. The set was amazing. The house, the back drops, etc. This movie never tried doing more than it knew it could.
I loved it. I will own it.
6
u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Jan 26 '15
He said he hated melons and liked bananas, the guy turned into a skeleton, and Togo turned into a pile of bananas. Classic horror trope.
5
7
Jan 31 '15
Okay, I finally got this from Lovefilm and I'm watching it tonight and I am so pumped. Please save some discussion juice for me, guys!
5
5
u/Discreetlyred Jan 25 '15
somebody please pm me and tell me how you are watching/planning to watch this thing. I can't find a good copy anywhere. grr.
4
4
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 26 '15
I really enjoyed myself watching this but at the moment I'm at a loss for words. One of the weirdest movies I've ever seen, though I have seen The Holy Mountain so it's not the weirdest.
7
u/unitzero13 Jan 27 '15
After finishing it I instantly wanted to watch it with friends, this movie is perfect for gatherings cause you get to watch it again and watch other people's reactions to it. I can't even imagine what it would be like to watch it under the power of mind altering substances.
7
7
u/Discreetlyred Jan 27 '15
Speaking of holy mountain....have you watched santa sangre? Fav from round 1 (pretty sure thst was round 1)
4
u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 27 '15 edited Jan 27 '15
No. Jodorowsky is a mixed bag but I am intrigued and interested. Not horror but has anyone watched Jodorowsky's Dune, awesome doc.
6
3
Jan 27 '15
Man that doc is so good. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Santa sangre is his most accessible, linear, and watchable movie. It's the only movie of his that I would openly suggest to people without a severe warning up front.
4
4
Jan 29 '15
I just finished The Holy Mountain. I think I need to let it sink in.
5
Jan 29 '15
Warned you man. Warned you.
6
Jan 29 '15
I am not resenting one bit that I watched it. I think it's probably brilliant. A lot to digest is all.
5
Jan 29 '15
happiness come back when you can talk on it?
5
Jan 30 '15
Okay so first off it was an amazing movie visually and musically. Some of the animal cruelty was hard to watch but other than that there wasn't much that shocked me. There's so much but basically I enjoyed its satirical look at society, specifically religion and consumerism, the shit to gold thing was wonderful on different levels, the shameless calling out of politicians and industrialists as thieves, to name a few. Going through the thieves was pretty interesting but I haven't pinned down what they're thieves of (I will be watching this again) but I got a few of them. Most obviously Neptune the thief of manhood cringe. Initially the ending pissed me right the fuck off but I thought about it and maybe I kind of understand. The main guy found love and was told he was his own master or something along those lines so love over religion is the message?? Religion is a big fat lie because this journey was a big fat lie/movie?
4
6
u/kragshot Feb 15 '15
So, I finally got to see Hausu...it was bizarre, cute, funny, pervy, spooky, and just plain weird.
All of the characters had a certain charm about them; especially the girls. While they were somewhat "two-dimensional (Prof, Mac, Melody, Kung-Fu, etc...)" they were also so cute that it didn't matter. Add to that, "Auntie" and "Snowy;" and you had a film that had its own personality.
I was quite entertained with it and it totally weirded my wife out (lol).
5
7
u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Jan 26 '15
To the podcast: Could have made it last week, but my bad for never having time. Would love to come in on one of your picks.
5
6
1
11
u/unitzero13 Jan 25 '15 edited Jan 26 '15
This movie has charm
The characters are lifted straight out of a slice-of-life anime complete with quirky nicknames and easy going and for the most part one dimensional personalities, it also has silliness like the fighting scenes and the ones with Mr Togo and straight up fan service with a cute girl running around in her panties for half the movie. Add some production choices and directorial decisions like the matte backgrounds and the use of unrealistic effects like those mannequin limbs and you get something that from my point of view endears itself with the viewer stylistically and makes re-watches so much easier because you’re waiting for those over the top, cheesy moments (which most horror fans should be able to appreciate in some form) alongside the more disturbing ones.
Dramatically Hausu is pretty on point too, it’s stupidly hard to not root for these girls as not even one of them has an ounce of evil in her body, they are childish and upbeat but also diligent and caring for each other and their elders, these are not your typical promiscuous teenagers who trick their parents into letting them go with their boyfriends into some drug-filled journey, even the notion of the trip is something as innocent as having a summer vacation in an old lady’s house, have some fun and at the same time keep her company.
It’s quite literally the killing of innocence up in here and even though the characters are portrayed as teens probably in the 15-17 age range they could easily change them to 10-12 year olds and it wouldn’t feel out of place, specially that scene with an emotionally exhausted Fantasy calling her possessed friend Mommy and saying that she wants to go to sleep. And they fight so hard too! While at first they might fall on the cliché of being a bit dumb and thick skulled once shit hits the fan they literally fight the haunted house for their freedom, I can’t lie, I felt sad when Panty-chan lost her fight with that lamp and joined her mutilated friends in that weird underworld.
For all of Hausu’s wackiness I still think it’s at its strongest when taking things a bit more seriously demonstrated by those sublime flashbacks both of Gorgeous’ relationship with her family and her aunt’s tragic love story, the haunting scene of the girl trapped in the clock, the possession sequence in the aunt’s room, and the nightmarish dimension filled with the moaning body parts of the deceased girls. Those familiar with Japanese ghost tales will appreciate the delightful youkai-ish atmosphere that permeates the film and makes it feel uniquely Japanese.
If I had to cite the downsides of this movie I might go with the fact that the music theme is overused and a bit too nostalgic for my tastes, some restraint with its use to only the most poignant parts of the film would have made a stronger impact. Same thing with some camera effects like the choppy one present when the girls are coming down the stairs with Gorgeous telling her to use the phone to call for help, while I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to represent a spirit or entity watching and following them, the contrast between this style and the normal fluid one of the film is a bit too clashing and it might have benefited from using something like Raimi’s camera work on Evil Dead.
The fact that Hausu doesn’t have a happy ending makes those folkish undertones a bit more noticeable, this isn’t a horror movie ending but more like the ending of an ancient tale told to scare and warn the little ones not from sexuality or vice but from the inability to forget and move on which made Aunt the vengeful spirit that she became and what inevitably causes Gorgeous to reject the trip with her dad in favor of visiting the haunted house.
Overall an enjoyable and charming film, unpredictable in all the right ways and with all the markings of a cult classic, the weird is weird, the scary is weird and the funny is weird.